Been in town today and noticed that the wires are being put in place for this years Christmas illuminations,got me thinking about how good they used to be in the 80's and very early 90's before they got cancelled for a couple of years.

I always liked how they used to bring in loads of medium sized Xmas trees and erect them in the Peace gardens,on the Moor and on Fargate also around the top of the hole in the road .They would have lattern style lights on them(which you can still by in B&Q!) The bottom half of the lights usually got vandelised as people nicked the coverings off the lights!

Also liked how they had little snowmen, santa's,penguins,angels surrounded by tinsel attached to the side of the lampposts. It was the highlight of my year as a child watching the lights switched on. And in those days they always worked as the council always had staff out checking that they were in working order,unlike today where they put the lights up and take them down but dont seam to maintain them inbetween as last years load of the decks didnt seam to work!

Arh memories!

I used too watch the lights every year when i was younger me and all my friends would take a bus trip nearly everynight in the late 80s and early 90s it was like a mini blackpool illumination tour.

It's not so much the lights but the whole outdoor market on Fargate, getting wrapped up and just being part of the hustle and bustle. That's when i know Xmas is here.

Of course the lights add to it all!!

Used to be our yearly treat
Round town looking at the lights and then hot chestnuts from the barrow on pond street

Lovely memories

I hope that this year they don't put the happy eid decoration up as it's weeks before xmas!

I remember them when they first started. They were never bettered. At that time c1960, they stretched from Castlegate to the bottom of The Moor. You could drive all the way down and back again. Today they are nothing more than a feeble excuse.

I remember them when they first started. They were never bettered. At that time c1960, they stretched from Castlegate to the bottom of The Moor. You could drive all the way down and back again. Today they are nothing more than a feeble excuse.

Thats true. I remember the illuminated reindeer all around the peace gardens,
then at the bottom of the Moor visiting Santa's grotto, with the big sleigh that you could sit on, also the dancing waters. Ahhh memories :)

Thats true. I remember the illuminated reindeer all around the peace gardens,
then at the bottom of the Moor visiting Santa's grotto, with the big sleigh that you could sit on, also the dancing waters. Ahhh memories :)
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Hello flashbang
I agree with you, i remember everything. My grandfather used to drive down one side and up the other side of the moor. I can even remember sitting on the sleigh and having my photo taken with my sister. Santa's grotto was at the side of his sleigh. I have tried to explain to my son who has his own family now. but words can not really express the way that the sheffield lights were in the 60's and very early 70's. They are such a shambles now compared to the 60's when sheffield had something to be proud of. Just before the demolished part of carbrook school we saw the old christmas we saw the old crowns with tinsel which used to swing gently in the middle of the road, right from the bottom of the moor and through to high street and waingate. they were truely a fantastic sight to see. how i miss them.
thanks for the memories.

Does anyone know where we could get any pics, showing the christmas decorations from the 60s -70s. Im sure there must be some somewhere.
It would be great if we could show our kid's just what they are missing regarding sheffields illuminations.

Hi bluebird62,

Do you remember gathering in town and singing all the traditional Christmas carols, whilst we waited for Father Christmas to show up, always wondering where he would turn up whether it would be at the top of the town hall, or the city hall. Then the countdown from 10 to see the lights switched on. The colours were breathtaking.......Just another trip down Memory Lane, I like these
kind of trips :)

Well as far as I can remember, the lights of the 1980s and 1990s weren't a patch on those we had in the 1970s.

There was a Santa's Grotto at Moorfoot (on, I was led to believe a site left derelict since WWII). It was a child's Christmas dream wandering between what seemed to be a forest of pine trees, all lit up to meet Father Christmas.

The lights stretched all the way up the Moor, Pinstone Street and down Fargate. In Barkers Pool there were huge bauble-shaped lights. There were dancing fountains in the Peace Gardens - everything was a wash of colour. Goodwin Fountain was lit up with a huge - and I mean huge - Christmas Tree which was also beautifully decorated.

There was Carol Singing in Paradise Square with people holding real lanterns (ie, torches with real flames. We'd not be allowed to do this today what with our Nanny State).

The lights progressed down High Street, strung across the road between the old lamp-posts. Back then it felt like Christmas was near.

Not now. In fact, one is lucky to see the words Merry Christmas amongst the few bulbs and tinsel the council organises nowadays.

Strange that in the days when the country was a lot worse off, there was more pride in the city and money was always there for a decent set of Christmas Deccies.

My main memory as a child wandering beneath these lights was of feeling a being a little bit special. Christmas seemed to matter more back then (and I don't mean just because I was so young).

Well as far as I can remember, the lights of the 1980s and 1990s weren't a patch on those we had in the 1970s.

There was a Santa's Grotto at Moorfoot (on, I was led to believe a site left derelict since WWII). It was a child's Christmas dream wandering between what seemed to be a forest of pine trees, all lit up to meet Father Christmas.

The lights stretched all the way up the Moor, Pinstone Street and down Fargate. In Barkers Pool there were huge bauble-shaped lights. There were dancing fountains in the Peace Gardens - everything was a wash of colour. Goodwin Fountain was lit up with a huge - and I mean huge - Christmas Tree which was also beautifully decorated.

There was Carol Singing in Paradise Square with people holding real lanterns (ie, torches with real flames. We'd not be allowed to do this today what with our Nanny State).

The lights progressed down High Street, strung across the road between the old lamp-posts. Back then it felt like Christmas was near.

Not now. In fact, one is lucky to see the words Merry Christmas amongst the few bulbs and tinsel the council organises nowadays.

Strange that in the days when the country was a lot worse off, there was more pride in the city and money was always there for a decent set of Christmas Deccies.

My main memory as a child wandering beneath these lights was of feeling a being a little bit special. Christmas seemed to matter more back then (and I don't mean just because I was so young).

Not much more to add to that, spot on Ousetunes. :thumbsup: